Heels' Cota Ailing With Viral Infection

Basketball Beat

North Carolina's Ed Cota, point guard for the struggling Tar Heels, did not practice Friday because of a viral infection, and his status for today's game against Florida State was uncertain.

Team doctors will determine before today's game whether Cota can play, school officials said.

Cota's virus is not the flu, doctors said. Cota leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists with 8.6 a game. He had 10 assists in North Carolina's loss at Virginia on Tuesday and moved into ninth place in NCAA history with 901 assists.

He has not missed a game since a Jan. 31, 1999, victory against Georgia Tech, which he missed because of an injured calf muscle.

- Seton Hall reschedules games

Seton Hall has set new dates for games postponed after a dormitory fire Wednesday that killed three students. The men's basketball game at No. 6 Syracuse has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. Feb. 7. It originally was scheduled for noon today.

The women's team will play at Boston College at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7 and host Syracuse at 2 p.m. Feb. 20.

The rescheduled women's games affect two other regular-season games. Seton Hall's home game against Providence College, originally scheduled for Feb. 19, will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 18. The team's visit to Syracuse, originally scheduled for Feb. 22, has been moved to 2 p.m. Feb. 23.

- USC loses Clancy, Turner

Sam Clancy, the Pac-10's second-leading scorer, and Jarvis Turner will miss the rest of Southern California's season with injuries. Clancy leads USC in scoring (17.2) and blocked shots (1.6), and is second in rebounding (7.7). The 6-foot-7 sophomore fractured a bone in his right foot in the second half of a 95-92 victory against Arizona State on Thursday.

Turner, the Trojans' top reserve, already had missed eight games this season because of a stress fracture in his left foot. The 6-8 senior fractured his left ankle in the first half of the game against Arizona State.

Indiana-Purdue special for seniors

Even though today's version of the rivalry will be played out in West Lafayette's Mackey Arena, many consider unranked Purdue a long shot to knock off No. 11 Indiana. For sure, the Boilermakers (12-5, 3-1 in Big Ten) will need some long shots to outgun the Hoosiers (14-2, 4-1).

The major players should be two seniors for each team - A.J. Guyton and Michael Lewis for Indiana, and Brian Cardinal and Jaraan Cornell for Purdue. The Hoosiers are 2-5 against the Boilermakers in the Guyton-Lewis years.

Ohio State set for St. John's

Ohio State guard Michael Redd sat in the corner of the players' lounge at Value City Arena on Thursday night, absorbing the euphoric feeling of beating No. 10 Michigan State for the first time during his three years at Ohio State.

Then, someone asked about today's nationally televised game against No. 19 St. John's in New York. The 13th-ranked Buckeyes defeated the Red Storm 77-74 in the South Regional final in Knoxville, Tenn., to advance to the Final Four.

DePaul sophomore forward Quentin Richardson has decided to make himself eligible for the NBA draft at the end of this season. Sources close to DePaul have informed foxsports.com that Richardson, the 22nd-ranked Blue Demons' leading scorer, has alerted the coaching staff of his intentions.